In general, a refrigerator is a household appliance that can store foods at low temperatures in a storage compartment within that is opened and closed by a refrigerator door, and is configured to preserve stored foods in optimal states through cooling its interior using cold air generated by heat exchange of refrigerant that circulates in a refrigeration cycle.
Such refrigerators are gradually undergoing increases in size and multi-functional capability due to changes in eating habits and the trend of making products more luxury-oriented, so that refrigerators are now being produced with various structures and convenience features for enhancing user convenience.
Recently, because an important deciding factor for purchasing a refrigerator has become the design of the refrigerator (in addition to its function), refrigerators having a wide assortment of colors, textures, patterns, etc. are being developed.
In light of modern trends for improving the overall design of refrigerators and making them more luxury-oriented, front surfaces of the main body or door of a refrigerator are typically formed of vinyl-coated metal (VCM) sheets printed with diverse colors and patterns; or, for a more varied representation of color and texture and for a high-quality feel, tempered glass is used to entirely or partially form a refrigerator exterior.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0069665 discloses a structure with a light emitting diode (LED) light mounted on a refrigerator door handle to not only enable identification of the handle, but to also improve aesthetics.
However, the refrigerator disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0069665 only emits light from the door handle to increase the ability to identify the door handle, and cannot effectively represent patterns formed on the front surface of the door under low ambient lighting, and is unsuitable for use as mood lamp lighting, etc.